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Lewis is superstitious. If you called him that, he would get angry, but he is superstitious. Everything is a good omen or a bad one, So this morning when the friendship bracelet George made for him after joining Mercedes broke and the little beads flied everywhere, Lewis immediately sees it as a bad omen. George quickly promises he will fix it or that he will make a new one, even better one. They gather the beads, but then they must go to have dinner with sponsors.
Lewis and George both love Japan and its Suzuka circuit. They spend a few days fulfilling their duties, but always find a way how to be alone for a moment and enjoy each other. George trusts Lewis with blind devotion, Lewis is his God, his everything. As long as he is with Lewis, there is no danger or fear because Lewis protects him. But tonight is different, at least for the older man. He can’t describe the weird feeling inside him. He is restless, thats new because being with George usually brings him peace, but tonight Lewis cant stop squirming in their bed. George is half-asleep when Lewis’s tossing pulls him out of his dream.
“What is wrong?”
George’s voice is slurred with sleepiness, he wants nothing more than to cuddle and sleep, but it’s impossible with the way Lewis is basically buzzing with energy.
“Nothing, love. Sorry for keeping you awake.”
Lewis forces himself to lie still until George starts softly snoring. Only then he slowly untangles George’s arms from around his shoulders and gets up. He hopes that a cup of an evening tea will help, but a few minutes later, when he is sitting in the dark living room of their hotel apartment, Lewis finds himself getting more restless. He stares on the little sleeping bear on the paper box with teabags while rubbing his dry eyes. He must fall asleep, there is a race happening in a few hours, but this pressure probably causes his insomnia.
In the end, Lewis manages to fall asleep on the couch because when their hotel room service arrives with breakfast, George gently shakes his shoulder to wake him up. Lewis says nothing, he only smiles and kisses his partner before grabbing an avocado toast. They eat in silence, Lewis is too tired to start a conversation and George is getting the buzzy feeling he gets before every race. Their ways split after breakfast, Toto is already waiting for George and Lewis gets in the car that is waiting for him outside of the hotel. They always split like this. George needs to be tested if he isn’t regressed or if he isn’t close to regressing and Lewis doesn’t want to somehow influence the results with being next to George for the whole time.
Lewis does everything he can to calm down a bit, but he still feels this dread inside his stomach and it gets even worse when he gets in the car. Many people told him to not date another Formula 1 driver, that the fear will slowly kill their relationship, but Lewis fell head over heels for George the moment they met. He loves George more than himself, more than Roscoe or anything else.
The race begins and Lewis’s instincts take over. He has done this hundreds of times, another race, nothing new. And yet the fear keeps gnawing on his insides, it grips his heart so hard that he can’t breathe.
George doesn't know what happened. He was doing great, he was holding on the third place, when he clips the wall. His Mercedes hits the barrier and the force tosses George from side to side. The car flips, rolls over and stays laying on its left side in the middle of the track. George eyes fill with tears. He feels himself regressing and he can’t stop it, this is the worst moment for becoming little, but George’s concussed brain can’t be bothered with trying to stop it from happening.
George hears Toto’s voice calling his name, but he doesn't know what to do. He only knows there is one person who could help.
“Daddy…”
George’s voice is weak, but Toto at least know the driver is still alive. And regressed.
“Georgie, stay in the car. Okay? Help is coming.”
Toto yells for red flag, but he is ignored, only yellow flags appear. Marshals are already running to the car, yellow flag means they don’t have much time. George’s crying intensifies when strangers start pulling him out of the vehicle, he tries to push them away, but it only causes him more pain. More people touch him, this time they are pulling his helmet off and tug on the tight balaclava. George’s legs are shaking. He wants to lie down, or at least sit down, but they are keeping him up. He looks around, confused by his surroundings and the lack of his daddy, but they gently push him and support him during the short walk from the wreck to a waiting ambulance. George cries even harder when they close the door, but the doctor is a trained professional, she knows how to work with littles.
Despite securing the second place, Lewis doesn’t feel more relaxed. He feels like he is seconds away from vomiting and climbing out of the tight space of his car takes him more time than usually. His crew runs to him to celebrate while Lewis tries to see George. Mercedes isn’t that far, but he only sees Kimi’s car and the young driver meets his eyes for a split second and then quickly turns to Toto.
Lewis feels as if he can’t breath. Invisible fingers wrap around his neck and Lewis chokes. So that’s how panic attack feels like for George?
“George?!”
Lewis knows the Mercedes team can’t hear him, but he sees Toto and Kimi arguing.
“George!”
This time his roar overpowered the crowd and people turn to him. The cheering gradually dies down and even Max, the winner, turns around.
Lewis almost falls down, his foot slipped, but an engineer manages to grab his forearm and steady him.
“George!?”
He can’t see George’s Mercedes. Lewis breaks into sprint and no one dares to stop him when he barges in Mercedes’s garage.
“Where is he! Where is George?!”
Kimi is crying and Toto steps closer to Lewis only to be pushed away, Lewis isn’t interested in listening the man’s long rants.
“Kimi, what happened?!”
The young driver looks at Toto and then at Lewis before finally opening his mouth.
“There was a crash…”
Lewis’s knees buckle a bit, but he steadies himself when Toto comes closer. He wants to punch Toto for not protecting George, but then he turns on his heel and almost runs to get to George. Toto finally finds his voice and yells behind Lewis:
“Valtteri is with him.”
.
.
.
Valtteri Bottas might not be the best for dealing with little George, but he was the only option. After the crash, he hopped in the ambulance and followed George to a near hospital. That’s when the first problem appeared and it’s one more reason for Valtteri to not deal with hurt littles.
George is inconsolable. His crying is heartbreaking, but Valtteri knows the pain won't go away if George doesn’t let them to treat him. It’s clear his arm is broken. Like really badly and painfully broken, but the little screams and kicks everyone who comes closer. He cradles the broken arm to his chest and wails that he wants daddy. Well, Valtteri knows the race is probably over by now, but he doesn’t know when will Lewis manage to get here. Valtteri, nurses and doctors try to reason with George, but try reasoning with an injured 3-years old. George’s whole body is shaking in pain and exhaustion and Valtteri catches the doctors planning to forcibly administering sedatives, otherwise they cant examine him and his injuries might be worse than just a broken arm. Valtteri isn’t sure about their plan, Lewis is definitely going to tear them a new one for using force on his baby, but he wants this to be over.
Lewis Hamilton is a man of many talents and one thing no one can deny him is his ability to make a stunning entrance. When he kicks the door open and barges in the crowded room, everyone jumps in shock. Lewis didn’t bother with changing in his regular clothes, he is still wearing his racing suit with the sleeves tied around his waist. A miracle happened - as soon as George saw his daddy, he immediately stopped crying. He is still pitifully whining like a kicked puppy, but he is finally silent. Lewis’s red underwear T-shirt is soaked in sweat, but it doesn't look like George minds it when Lewis hugs him to his chest.
“Baby….wait, why didn’t you treat his arm?!”
Lewis’s eyes could kill when he turns away from George and looks at them. Valtteri raises his hands in a placative gesture.
“He didn’t let us touch him. We tried, okay?”
Lewis turns back to his baby and strokes George’s sweaty hair.
“Really? Baby, I am so sorry for not coming sooner, but now I am here and we will let the doctors to look at your arm. Alright?”
George shakes in Lewis’s arms both in exhaustion and pain, but allows daddy to partially take his racing suit off. George cries out in pain when Lewis tugs on the sleeve covering his broken arm, but then it’s done, the suit is pulled down to his waist and daddy is cupping George’s face between his hands while nurses and doctors slowly come closer.
Lewis notices George’s dominant hand is broken, the next few weeks are going to be tough. In the end they get painkillers in George and wrap ice packs around the broken limb before proceeding to do X-rays and CT scan to be sure he has no other injuries. The seatbelts did their job, but left ugly bruises on George’s chest. Lewis lets go of him only when he has to, otherwise he holds George’s in his arms. Toto arrived shortly after Lewis, he came with George’s and Lewis’s bags so Lewis can change his clothes and then takes care of his baby. George is out of it to fighting against being diapered, painkillers make his sleepy and really small. He gets his favorite pacifier with Winnie-the-Pooh, daddy is stroking his hair so he lies still while they straighten his broken arm and put a cast on it.
Toto is silently waiting outside of the hospital room, he must face Lewis sooner than later. A few reporters think Toto somehow forced regressed George to drive which is a huge bullshit. You can think many ugly things about Toto, but he would never, NEVER, put his drivers in danger. They have already called Stoffel Vandoorne, their reserve driver is ready. Toto just needs to speak with Lewis. He waits and slowly loses hope, but then the door finally opens and Lewis walks out. George is heavily leaning against him and Lewis regrets that Valtteri left, he could carry George. Unfortunately, Lewis can lift George or carry him for a short distance, but now he bumps into Toto who gently scoops George up. Lewis says nothing, he glares at Toto, but walks with him.
“He regressed AFTER the crash. Don’t trust the reporters, I would never …”
Everyone knows the reason behind Lewis’s overprotectiveness. It’s not only his huge love toward George, but also the fear that his baby will be mistreated again. Williams didn’t treat George well, they are a bunch of assholes and if someone harm a hair on his head, Lewis will go ballistic.
Lewis believes him, Toto is George’s uncle, he loves him. Moreover, it isn’t possible to fake the blood test. They reach Lewis’s car and Toto sits George in the passenger seat. Lewis throws their things on the backseat and gets behind the steering wheel.
“Good night, Toto.”